Righting the Wrongs he Did
by kutnerlove
Summary: When Ron walked out of the tent, Hermione was crushed, but as she and Harry deal with things alone, she confesses her love for him and they're left to deal with the consequences. Will they be able to find where they belong?
1. Righting Wrongs

Righting the Wrongs He Did

Hermione had been crying non-stop for nearly two days and Harry was worried that she would waste away with Ron gone away. She barely ate and didn't get much rest, even when she slept. Harry noticed that she was losing weight and couldn't hold his tongue much longer. "Hermione?" he started timidly, not knowing exactly what he was going to say.

The puffy eyed girl looked up at him from her place in a chair. It was evening so their daily ration of food was sitting on a plate in front of her, having not been touched. Harry cleared his throat, willing his Gryffindor bravery to come through and help him help his friend. "Hermione, I think you should eat," he told her after a moment.

"I'm not hungry, Harry," she said, her voice hoarse from all her crying.

"I need you to be strong," he told her. "I know he's gone, but you'll have to carry on without him if you want us to survive this search and destroy mission."

"I know, Harry," she sniffed. "But I just can't eat."

"Please?" he asked, all the feeling he could muster in his voice and eyes. He was missing Ron too, but knew that he had to be strong for the world, if not for only Hermione.

"I can't…" she whispered. She pulled a blanket up around herself and hid her face from view, hoping to throw him off his requests of her. Harry couldn't let her end herself like that, however. He was determined to get Hermione through it, Ron or no Ron.

"I don't want to have to put you under the imperious curse," he said gently. "But I will if you don't start eating. I need you well."

Hermione sighed and tried to sit up, succeeding in tipping over her food in the process. "I'm sorry," she said tiredly, looking down at the mess she had made in the floor of the tent.

"It's ok," Harry told her, stooping down to clean up. He made her another plate of food and presented it to her. "Will you eat now?"

She nodded after a moment and allowed her best friend to feed her some bits of potato. Harry really didn't mind feeding Hermione as long as she ate properly. He continued scooping food into a spoon and bringing it to her lips until the entire plate was clean. He cleaned things up afterward while Hermione sat staring at the door to the tent. He could tell she was hoping Ron would appear any moment and apologize to the both of them for being an ass. He knew it probably wouldn't happen any time soon, however.

Three days went by with Harry feeding Hermione her breakfast, lunch and dinner and waiting for her to want to talk about what she was going through. He was a bit relieved when she went to bed every night as he wasn't sure how he could respond to her fears and grievances. He hoped that she would start getting rest, but every morning when they reawakened, she looked just as tired as when she had retired to her room. Harry knew he didn't look much better, but he knew that he had to be strong for Hermione in order for her to heal.

Nearly a week after Ron walked out; she ate her first meal on her own. Harry was immensely relieved and they even chatted a bit about catching an episode of Potterwatch on the radio. They tried for nearly two hours without luck and ended up settling into bed without news of their friends and allies.

Harry started noticing Hermione's actions becoming more purposeful, as though she was finally letting Ron's walking out go…or at least pushing it to the back of her mind. They moved again and it had been 11 days since they had seen Ron, but Hermione refused to talk about him or anything they had done with him, not that Harry blamed her. He wasn't getting much sleep at night due to the necklace that he wore around his neck, but was glad that his best friend was finally getting a bit. He lay awake most of the night listening to her breathing so he wouldn't have to think about the nightmares that the necklace brought him.

On their twelfth day without Ron, Hermione suggested she wear the necklace for a while, Harry didn't want to let her bear the burden, but he really needed some sleep, so he reluctantly handed it over. She placed it around her neck and Harry let himself drift off. He slept until nightfall and was quick to retrieve the necklace when he reawakened. Hermione was crying softly in the corner and he knew she was thinking about Ron. "I don't want you to have to deal with my burdens as much," he told Hermione. "It only brings you down."

"Oh, Harry!" she cried, flinging her arms around him. He let her cry into his shoulder, dampening his shirt and neck a bit in the process. Harry held her until her tears subsided and she was able to breathe normally once more. "I'm sorry," she muttered.

"Don't be," he told her firmly. He hated that she was going through all of this pain on his behalf. If he had just gone on alone, she and Ron would have been safely at the Burrow, he told himself. He hated seeing Hermione crying. "I'm sorry."

"I wanted to come," she said. "Don't worry about me. I've been a burden and I apologize for that, but I'm here to help you now. If you'll have me."

Harry seriously considered telling her to go home, but he knew she would be upset if he said he didn't need her, so he simply nodded. The most unexpected thing he could imagine happened then. Hermione Granger, his best friend, pressed her lips firmly against his. He knew that it was probably wrong, but he couldn't help responding. His body desperately craved some comfort and was apparently willing to take it from her. He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.

"I've loved you for so long, Harry," she whispered when they finally broke apart. Harry was bewildered. His best friend was in love with him. Why had she then been so upset about Ron leaving he wondered. She seemed to know exactly what he was thinking, however. "Ron's my best friend and it hurts that he would leave us like this, but I think I'm in love with you."

Harry nodded numbly. He was really not good in this kind of situation. Not knowing what else to do, he pulled her close again and covered her lips with his own. She responded enthusiastically and they sank back into the large, cushioned chair that Harry Hermione had been sitting in.

_She's your best friend!_ a part of his brain screamed. _But she's in love with you…_ his more romantic side protested. Harry didn't bother to fight his subconscious as Hermione deepened the kiss, running her tongue along his top lip. _If you hurt her, you'll have lost both of your friends,_ his rational mind told him. _But maybe we won't get hurt,_ the other part said. _Don't ruin your friendship,_ his mind said. _And don't ruin a good thing. Hermione loves you. You can learn to love her too. She's willing to die with you, after all._

Harry couldn't fight the feelings that were coming up when he thought of Hermione. He knew their relationship was changed when his hands seemed to slid down her body of their own accord and squeeze her bum. He was definitely going to have to agree with his more romantic side this time and hope to hell the people around him could accept his choice. Their snogging session ended a while later as both of their stomachs growled in hunger.

_Maybe this will be a good thing…_Harry thought. He smiled at Hermione from across the room. There was only one way to find out.


	2. Consequences of the Truth

Consequences of the Truth

Harry opened his eyes to see Hermione staring at him from the foot of his bed. He grabbed his glasses from the bedside table and sat up quickly. "Whassamatta?" he asked groggily.

"Sorry if I startled you," she said a bit sheepishly. "I just wanted to look in on you. You've been talking in your sleep since last night."

"Oh." The weight that had dropped onto his chest at seeing her peering at him was lifted a bit when he realized that they weren't under attack. He cleared his throat remembering their heated kissing from the night before. Hermione smiled weakly at him and he returned the gesture.

"I've got breakfast ready," she said.

"Alright. I'll be out in a minute." Harry watched her walk out of the room of their magically enchanted tent and sighed. It was true that they were both in need of some comforts and that he cared about her a lot, but he couldn't help remembering the ginger haired girl who was surely waiting for him back at the Burrow and felt a little guilty about the night before. Sighing heavily he got out of bed and found some fairly clean clothes to put on.

He had no idea who he was going to deal with his newly changed relationship with Hermione, but there was little time to worry about that as she was expecting him to come out of his room and eat. He took a deep breath and adjusted his glasses before venturing into their makeshift kitchen area. Hermione looked up and beamed at him, carrying two plates in her wake.

"I found some large mushrooms and we had a few eggs left so I made omelets," she informed him.

"Great," he replied, sitting down in the chair that had held their previous night's encounter. She handed him a plate and sat down in a chair opposite him. It was a bit awkward at first, her looking at him occasionally across her plate of omelet and expecting him to say something. He kept eating with his eyes on his plate, hoping to deter her from making conversation.

"Are you alright?" she asked after he had finished his food and glanced at her quickly before taking his things to the kitchen.

"Yes. I'm fine…just a rough night," he returned. It wasn't completely a lie. Even after being held in Hermione's arms for a while, the Dark Lord's face still haunted his dreams. He cleaned the dishware and put things away before returning to the living space. One thing he was grateful for was the obvious improvement on Hermione's mood.

"So what should we do today?" she asked him after taking her things into the kitchen as well. "Nothing much has changed in the way of finding a way to destroy the necklace."

"I know. We'll have to move again soon. Have you any ideas about where we should go next?" he asked. As long as his mind was on his mission, he thought, he could get through the day and spending time with Hermione comfortably.

Hermione offered a few suggestions for moving space and in the end they decided to go nearer Scotland. They took the charms off of their area after packing their things up, then apparated to the new campsite. After putting up the proper protective spells and such, they set up the tent and went inside, the better part of the day spent on getting things together for their living arrangements. After a dinner of salad grass and more mushrooms, they settled into the tent.

Harry was relieved when Hermione pulled out her book that Dumbledore had left her and set to reading. He busied himself with brainstorming for ideas about destroying the locket, hoping something would come to him in time. He was more than a little startled when Hermione interrupted his thought processes, however, by massaging his shoulders. "You don't have to do that," he told her nervously.

"I know. I thought it might help you rest, though," she told him, a faint blush staining her cheeks. He tried to relax into her ministrations, but his mind kept turning back to the kiss he had shared with Ginny before he had left. Much to his relief, Hermione didn't try snogging him again before bed. She sat across from him again, though and cleared her throat as though wanting to start a conversation.

"This is a bit new for both of us, and I know you're probably wondering about the whole Ginny situation," Hermione started, reading Harry's mind. "But I just want you to know that we don't have to…erm…do anything you think you'll regret. Especially if you care about Ginny in a romantic way. I know I'm not exactly as beautiful as her but…"

Harry cut her off as she started to berate herself. "No. Don't say that. You're amazing, and smart, and funny, and pretty," he told her. "I suppose it'll just take a bit of getting used to to think of you as more than my best friend. We've been best friends for so long…"

A look crossed her face which Harry recognized as disappointment, but she quickly masked it. He looked at his shoes, knowing he had hurt her with his truthfulness. "I see," she said slowly. "Well, goodnight then," she had said before hiding away in her room. Harry smacked his palm to his forehead, hating himself for making Hermione feel bad. He had only tried to be truthful, he rationalized. He hoped that she would understand as he tucked himself into bed.

The two didn't talk much the next day and Harry had suspicions that Hermione had been crying. He didn't think it wise to bring the subject up again, however. That night as he lay in bed, he went over all the reasons that he shouldn't have feelings for his best friend. "But I do," he said quietly to himself. The day spent without communication had highlighted just how much he did depend on her, he realized. She was someone who had stuck with him from his first year, never having seen him as a faultless hero since childhood. And she was so many good things, he knew.

Instead of waking up sweating and remembering Voldemort's voice during the night, Harry dreamt of lots of soft brown curls and creamy hands caressing his chest. Things were getting interesting where his feelings were concerned, and Harry didn't exactly know how to feel about the situation. He found Hermione sitting alone with a cup of tea made from local herbs. He sat behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and wondering why his heart had to be so confused about things.


	3. Harder and Harder to Breathe

Harder and Harder to Breathe

Harry was afraid at first that Hermione would resent him for taking so long to come around and become a little more comfortable with her, but she was simply happy that he had shown interest in her the way she did for him. Every day for the next month they worked on finding solutions to destroying the horcruxes together as well as taking care of their daily lives and trying to keep up with their friends via the radio program. They were actually able to find the passwords to a few shows and gained news of the Order's activities.

Each day, Harry and Hermione set some time aside for themselves. Harry felt himself growing closer and closer to Hermione and the unease that had started out between them after she revealed her feelings for him were gone after a week. Though it was still hard for Harry to sleep due to the dark power of the necklace, he took comfort in knowing that Hermione was by his side. She started sleeping next to him after a particularly bad dream involving her and Ron being tortured by the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters, though Harry had wisely opted to eliminate Ron's name from the conversation they had held about it.

Harry awakened to the smell of Hermione's shampoo a few weeks after Christmas. He was pleased to feel the weight and warmth of her body pressed against him and gave in to kissing her neck until she stirred awake. She turned to face him and looked into his green eyes for a while before allowing him to capture her lips in a searing kiss. They had had several hot snogging sessions, but had ended the activities before letting themselves go too far. Harry didn't want to rush into things with Hermione, particularly in case Ron came back and asked Hermione to marry him or something of that nature, which Harry suspected the ginger wanted to do.

He was unsurprised, then when noises from outside the tent alerted them to the presence of an unknown being. They found that Ron had returned shortly after. Harry was more than willing to accept his best friend back into the tent, but Hermione had other things in mind. The short girl was furious and told Ron where to stick his apology after swatting him across the face. Hours later, after Ron had saved Harry and destroyed the horcrux, she reluctantly accepted him being back.

"Harry and I are together now," she told Ron bluntly over dinner. "We've had to cling to each other in our time of hardship since you turned tail."

Ron looked sheepish until he absorbed the entirety of the news. "You're with Hermione?" he asked incredulously. "What about my sister?"

"I love Ginny, but we aren't working out with all my travel. Hermione has been with me all the time," Harry explained. "She understands."

Ron took in the information, but was none too happy about the revelation. He had always pictured himself with Hermione while more recent events had pointed toward Harry being with Ginny. He had to accept the change, however, because he truly wanted to be with his friends once again. Things were slightly awkward when Ron walked in on them snogging, but they worked as a team to gather and destroy the pieces of Voldemort's soul that were keeping Harry from defeating him.

Ron had learned to accept his friend's newfound relationship by the time they were headed off to Hogwarts in search of the Diadem of Ravenclaw. He made sure to steer clear of them when Harry explained the situation to Ginny upon his arrival. The ginger was disappointed to say the least, but threw her exploits with Neville in Harry's face in hopes of getting back at him.

"Please let's just get through this," Hermione asked when Harry and Ginny faced off against one another. "I know this is difficult, but we need to defeat V-Voldemort if we expect to get anywhere in life." The two sheepishly put aside their bickering in favor of getting through the battle.

As the smoke cleared away from the battle field at Hogwarts and the dead and injured were gathered, Harry walked to grounds, not expecting or particularly wanting to be followed. He had done his duty and felt a sense of relief wash over him followed by some survivor's guilt. As he sat by the lake, watching the merpeople settle back into the water and the Giant Squid grown quiet again, arms wrapped around him from behind. He looked up to see Hermione smiling tiredly at him.

"I love you, Harry," she told him.

"I love you too."

"But you don't love me like you love her," she said, sinking to the grass beside him. "Ginny."

"That's not true," he started, but Hermione cut him off with a kiss. She pressed her lips against his and with a flick of her wand they were both naked.

"I want to give you this, Harry, because you helped me," she said at his odd look. "You gave me a few months of peaceful loving and I needed it. I hate to say I used you, but I belong with Ron. As much as I hate to admit it…I am in love with him." Harry started to speak, but she cut him off with another kiss. He was getting quite hard as her bottom brushed against his naked groin. "And you love Ginny. I was a substitute…you're my best friend though. And if neither of us work with Weasley's, you bet your broomstick I'll turn to you," she told him, pushing him back into the grass.

Harry felt a wide variety of emotions as Hermione ran her hands over his body, stirring him to life once more. In a strange way, he had been in love with her and Ginny simultaneously, but differently, but had hoped to stay with his best friend because it would have been easier. He took a deep breath and prepared himself to find Ginny after enjoying one stolen night with Hermione.

Once the Boy Who Lived Twice was standing proud and erect, Hermione lowered herself onto him, wincing in pain as he stretched her for the first time. Harry realized what she had given him and flipped them over, hoping to make the event easier on her. When she whispered her readiness to him, he pulled out of her, and then pushed forward again, gently. The sensations of her around him were driving him wild and he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold out for very long, but the thought of sharing his first time with Hermione strengthened him and made him feel like he could do anything.

Their slow rhythm gradually increased until he was thrusting into Hermione with wild abandon as she clung to his shoulders, panting with need. He experienced an amazing rush when she clenched around him, milking him of his seed and sending him over the edge. They lay together for a while, until they felt like they could return hand in hand to the people that needed them. "I do love you," he whispered in her ear before letting her go to Ron. Her smile let him know that the feeling was mutual.

Later, as he sat with Ginny in the gardens at the Burrow, he told her the entire story of his experiences with Hermione. "I couldn't get you out of my head, though," he told her. "And I know that you're the one I'll be with for the rest of my life…if you'll have me."

Thought Ginny was less than thrilled by the news of Harry's goodbye from Hermione, she was thrilled to have him in her arms again. "If you promise never to leave me again," she told him. He kissed her, knowing it was a promise he could keep. He and Hermione had filled the void for each other. They had righted the wrongs the other had experienced and for that Harry would never regret their time together.


End file.
